Picture This!

Shooting on the run has advantages

Obsessions have a curious way of taking over. Take electricity: One day Ben Franklin flies a kite in an electrical storm and ...

Illustration by Jeremy Collins

Obsessions have a curious way of taking over. Take electricity: One day Ben Franklin flies a kite in an electrical storm and discovers that if your kite gets hit by lightning, they eventually make you Postmaster. The next thing you know, Luigi Galvani is running electrical currents through dismembered frogs' legs, jump-starting them despite the fact they are no longer attached to living frogs. Pretty soon Thomas Edison opens up an electric company to serve customers in their frog-leg jump-starting needs, which leads to the charges for the electricity I used last month to power the digital camera I carry every day on my runs, and which makes me a better runner.

I first discovered electricity as a kid when I shuffled my feet across our shag carpet on a dry winter day, and snuck up behind my older brother to touch his earlobe. Talk about shock and awe! It was great for tweaking the big bully, and had all the jolt effect of a starter's pistol. I ran like hell, though the event eventually led to my brother rolling me up in the downstairs throw rug with only my head sticking out, whereupon he covered my mouth and nose "to see how long you can last without air."